Faculty Profile

Sylvia Wassertheil-Smoller, Ph.D.

Dorothy and William Manealoff Foundation and Molly Rosen Chair in Social Medicine Emerita

Principal Investigator, Women's Health Initiative

Professional Interests

My primary research focuses on cardiovascular disease and associated risk factors, particularly hypertension. Our Women's Health Initiative (WHI) is a set of clinical trials and observational studies of heart disease, cancer, osteoporosis, cognition, nutrition and other health issues facing older women. Extensive in scope, the WHI involves 39 clinical centers in the U.S. involving 161,000 women ages 50-79, with long-term follow-up. We also examine biomarkers predicting stroke, brain imaging studies, influence of hormones on dementia, and effect of depression and medications on cardiovascular outcomes. As the WHI conducts extended follow-up and new ancillary studies, the focus will be on aging, obesity, long-term effects of hormones and associated genetic studies.

Our Hispanic Community Health Study/Study of Latinos (HCHS/SOL) involves 16,000 Hispanic men and women of different ethnic origins, ages 18-74, followed in four field sites. We look at risk and protective factors for cardiovascular health in relation to ethnicity, acculturation and other variables. We also assess the risks for diabetes and sleep disorders, and examine cognition, pulmonary function, physical activity, hearing, dental health and dietary patterns. Blood biomarker and genetic studies are as well a component of the HCHS/SOL.

I am the author of the book Biostatistics and Epidemiology, a Primer for Health and Biomedical Professionals, published by Springer, now in its fourth edition. In addition to my own research, I enjoy mentoring students and junior faculty and supervise some of their research projects.

Media Coverage

The Philadelphia Inquirer features new research by Dr. Sylvia Wassertheil-Smoller that found high triglycerides levels were a risk factor for stroke in postmenopausal women while cholesterol was not.

ABC.com interviews Dr. Sylvia Wassertheil-Smoller about a new study in Stroke: Journal of the American Heart Association showing that depression increases the risk of stroke in older women – which confirms her own 2009 Women’s Health Initiative study linking the use of antidepressants and stroke in the same population.